Steering mechanism



A. P. LEE

STEERING MECHANISM Fl'ed June 25, 1919 4 Sheets-sheet 1 Feb. 27, 1923.

' A. P. LEE

f STEERING MECHANISM Filed June 25, i919 4 sheets-sheet 2 Feb. 27, 1923. l 1,446,756

A. P. LEE

STEERING MECHANI SM Filed June 25, 1919 4 sheets-sheet s AHill www,

Feb. 27, 1923.

A. P. LEE

STEERING MECHANISM 4 sheets-sheet 4 Y Filed June 25, 1919 Infini/fnl @mff Pz e@ @zii/7275565,

Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

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ALBERT r. LEE, 0E CHICAGO, Interiors, seremos 'ro LEE TRAILER a BODY Co., or

cnoneo,

TENT OFFICE.

ILLINOIS.

STEERING MECHANISM.

Application led June 23,

To all cli/0m t may concern Be 1t known that I, ALBERT P. LEE, a

vcitizen or the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State oi Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Steering 'll/lech-v anism, of which the following is a full,

clear, concise, and exact description, refer? may be between the wheels and the frame# work of the vehicle due to the interposition of springs between them.

My invention further contemplates the provision of suitable resilient means interposed in a portion of the steering mechanism whereby to relieve the steering mecliani'sm of sudden jars due to sudden movements of one or both wheels due to meeting obstructions of a-charactervwhich tend inomentarily to throw the wheel or wheels out of their given position. y.

In trailer construction it has been the custom to use the standard ball and 'socket drag links for connecting up the steering mechanism. type of drag link is used on motor trucks or even on touring cars.

the same as the front axle oi a motor truclvt, it of course being understood that, each carries only halt' of the load, whereas the mo# tor truck rear axle carries from 'sixty to ninety per cent of the load. The drag link system of atrailer should, therefore, be

equivalent to the radius rod system of the In fact, practically thesamey Both axles of a tour wheel reversible trailer are practically 1919. seal No. 306,202.

paratus to provide against severe shocks.l In the old style of connections, such as the ball andsocket drag links, they have simply depended upon the small springs inthe drag links on the socket to provide against shocks. These springs are very small and? were never intended to take up such severe shocks as are transmitted' to. a heavyv trailer axle..`

-Furthermore, insteadV of a man with a steering wheel always ready to straighten up the axle, we have the positive action of the rear of the truck with .its tremendous power, tending to'. emphasize'the disalignment of the front wheels and to. cause weaving Vot the steering wheels.

To provide against this I haveV done away with what isknown-as the rear drag link or'the direct connection between the steeringattachment of theV axle andthe steering mechanism. tie rod running from the onestub axle steeringarm to the other andzhave applied. a suitable sliding connectionibn thistie rod,

controlled by a. spring of great strength.v

between my steering arm and the steering head 'comprising yoke endsinstead of ball and socket ends, thereby providing the strongest means known for connections of this nature.

Also for making it easy and practical to adjust this steering` mechanism I havepro` vided a left hand thread in one of the yokes and a right hand thread in the other, it

not being necessary to take o ut any pins or in any way disengage'the steeringmechanism to bring the wheels lntoperfect' alinement. Y

I will explain my invention more in 'detail by referring tothe accompanying draw? ings .illustrating one form in which I have employed a Fig. 1 iS a top view of a front portion ot a trailer, the steering portion being constructed in accordance with my inventiong F ig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

1 .L g. 6 is a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig.' 1; and

7 is a sectional view on line 7--7 ot improved structure comprises the trailer framework 10 having the wheels 11,

11. The wheels are suitably mounted so Y that they may be steered through the agency of the tie rod 12. This-tie rod is associated with the bell crank lever 13, the said lever being pivotally mounted upon the stud 14. The bell crank lever has a pair of sockets 15 and 16, either one ot' which may be in association with the link 17, which link connects the bell crank lever 13 with the draw bar head 18. The draw bar head together with the draw bar 19 are ot a design similar to that Vshown in my co-pending application Serial No. 289,490, tiled April 12, 1919, and the drawbar head 18 is pivotally mounted upon the axis 20. The arrangement is such in accordance with my said copending application that the draw bar V19 is pivotally associated with the draw bar head 18 through the agency of the bolt 21. A suitable lock 22r is Vprovided so that the draw bar may be looked to the draw bar head to prevent at times relativeY pivotal movement between the draw bar 19 and the draw bar head 18. The draw bar head 18 is pivotally mounted, as stated, upon the axis 20 so that it may swing in response to the swinging movement or' the draw bar 19 Whenever the draw bar is locked to the said draw bar head. A suitable bolt 23 is provided so that the draw bar Vhead 18 may be locked to the framework ot' the trailelI at times so as to lock the wheels 11 in the position shown in Fig. 1. At these times it .is usually desirable toV have the draw bar 19 pivotally associated with the draw bar head 18 for backing purposes. dle V24 controls the position of the bolt 23. The connection between the link 17 and the draw bar head and also the` connection 01"' this link with the bell crank lever 13 is of a universal'character so that slight diterences in position between the framework 10- and-the axle 25 will not influence the relative positions of' the steering mechanism parts. Y

The manner of obtaining the universal connection ismore clearly shown in Fig.

Ar suitable han-- 6 where the link 17 is shown as mounted at its extremities in heads 26 and 27 respec-` tively. The lugs 28 and 29 are provided, these lugs being` pivotally carried inthe heads 26 and 27 respectively through the agency of the pins 30. The lugs 28 and 29 are also pivotally connected tothe draw bar head 18 and bell crank lever 13 through the agency of pins 31. Universal joints are thus provided for. the link 17 at itsV opposite extremities where it enga-ges the draw bar head and the bell crank lever 13.

lt will be noted by an inspection or' Fig.

2 that a radius rod 32 is provided which unites the framework with the front axle and the center points ot the pivots of the link 17 and of the pivots ot the radius rod 32 are approximately such. distances apart that the up and down movement of the fra-me relative to the front axle' will Vnot cause any disturbance in t-he arrangement of the parts of the steering mechanism dueV nel 35 and the eye beam 36, which channel and eye beam both form parts of the trailer.

1n this manner an exceedingly rigid and Y stable connection is secured for the said bolt which supports the draw bar head. The bell crank lever 13 is likewise held in a? U- shaped framework 37 suitably secured to the front axle.

By referring more particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, the structure of the tie rodY 12 will be more readily apparent. This tie rod extends preferably as one piece between the steering arms 38 and 39 and is lcontrolled in this position by the block 40. This block 40 is pivotally associated with the bell crank lever 13 through the agency/f olI the pin 41. The block 40 has sockets 42 and 43V which slidablyreceive bushings 44 and 45 respectively, which bushings are held in their position against the inner walls of the block Y by a very strong'spring 46. A collar 47 is pinned to the rod 12 and defines the position of the rod relatively to the bushing 44.

the wheels 11 due to obstructions in the road will not be received as jars by thesteering mechanism, but will be taken up 'by the spring 46. This spring is strong enough so that there is no appreciable yielding in the steering mechanism under ordinary conditions of travel. It will be noted that the arrangement is such that the rod 12 may be displaced relatively to the block 40 inl either direction, that is, either to the right or to the left (Fig. 3), depending upon the direction of displacement of the wheels 11 due to the obstructions as stated.

I cla-im:

1. A vehicle of the character described comprising a framework, a pair of wheels, a rigid tie rod connecting said wheels, a steering lever pivotally and slidably carried on said tie rod, and an adjustable resilient means interposed between said steering lever and said tie vrod, said resilient means being of such strength as to be normally uncompressed when said steering mechanism is operated through said steering lever, but being yielding to such an extent as to cushion the sudden movement of said tie rod due to road shocks, said tie rod being provided with stops to limit the movement of said lever relative to said tie rod.

2. A vehicle -of the character described comprising a framework, a pair of wheels, a rigid tie rod connecting said wheels, a yokelike member slidably mounted on said rod, a steering lever' pivotally mounted on said yoke, and a spring mounted on said rod between the arms of said yoke whereby said tie rod has a limited cushioned sidewise play relatively to said 'steering lever.

3. A vehicle of the character described comprising a framework, a pair of wheels, a rigid tie rod connecting said wheels, a yoke- -like member slidably mounted on said rod.l

a steering lever pivotally mounted on said yoke, and a spring mounted on said rod between the arms of said yoke, said tie rod being provided with stops at both sides kof said yoke whereby said tie rod has a limited ycushioned sidewise play relatively to said steering lever. Y

4. A vehicle of the character described comprising a framework, a pair of wheels, a rigid tie rod connecting said wheels, a yoke-like member slidably mounted on said rod, a steering lever pivotally mounted on said yoke, a pair of headed sleeves mounted on said rod and extending through said yoke with the heads thereofin engagement with the inner faces of the arms vof said yoke, and

a spring mounted on said rod between the arms of said yoke and engaging the heads on said sleeves, said tie rod being provided with stops at both. sides of said yoke whereby said tie rod has a limited cushoined sidewise play relatively to said steering lever.

5. A vehicle of the character described comprising a framework, a pair of wheels, a rigid tie rod connecting said wheels, a

yoke-like member slidably mounted on said rod, a steering lever pivotally mounted on said yoke, a pair of headed sleeves mounted on said rod and extending through said yoke with the heads thereof in engagement with the inner faces of the arms of said yoke, and

a spring mounted on said rod between' the arms of said yoke and engagingthe heads on said sleeves, said tie rod havinga pair of sleeves fixed thereon, one of said fixed sleeves acting as a fixed stop for one of said headed sleeves and the other of said fixed sleeves being threaded to be adjustably` connected with a stop member for the other of said headed sleeves, whereby the tension of said spring may be adjusted.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th day of June, A. D., 1919.

' ALBERT P. LEE. 

